Codas and Tone

Syllables can end with three consonantal/pseudoconsantal elements, in this order:

• r
• n : Can be realized as a consonantal /n/, or just as nasalization; as a consonant, assimilates in place to a following stop;  fully assimilates to a following /l/; so n + [p,k,m,l,ŋ] = [mp,ŋk,ll,ŋŋ].
• ' : Glottal stop, when in isolation, but fully assimilates to any following voiceless consonant so ' + [p,t,k,f,s,š] = [pp,tt,kk,ff,ss,šš], or to the place of articulation of any sonorant, so ' + [m,n,l,ŋ] = [pm,tn,lt,kŋ].

But the most salient realization of ' is tonal.  Lexical syllables ending with ' have a high tone aligned with the end of the syllable.  Other lexical syllables have a high tone aligned with the start of the syllable.  This means that in isolation, syllables ending with ' are rises, and others are falls. Rises can be clipped depending on context, starting at a midpoint in the pitch range, or just ending up a high tone; falls tend to be a full H->L transition. In lexical+lexical compounds, contours are simplified, preserving pitch movement on the first syllable.

Grammatical prefixes just have level tone, high if preceding a fall (syllable without '), low if preceding a rise (syllable with '); suffixes are a mirror image of this.

Some schematic examples:  (...) = a syllable; with following glottals written as ', lexicality/stress is indicated by bold; tone contours represented with H(igh) and L(ow) inside the (...).

• (HL)
• ([L|M]H)'
• (HL) + (LL)
• (HL) + (LH)'
• ([L|M|H]H) + (HL)
• (LH)' + (HH)
• (LL) + (LH)'
• (HL) + (LL)
• (HH) + (HL) + (LH)' + (HH)

Onsets

Underlying syllable onsets contain the consonants:

Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
p	t		k	'
f	s	š	h
m	n		ŋ
	r/l

Three is always some onset, at least '.

As a single-consonant onset, only l is found, not r.

Onsets can be pairs and sometimes triples of consonants, with several restrictions:

• The glottal ' does not occur in clusters.
• The second element must be dental, or š, or h.
• The liquid l appears in combination with sonorants, r with obstruents.
• Clusters can be triples if h is involved.

Most combinations that follow the rules above can be found: tr-, thr-, kn-, phn-, ts-, pš-, ml-, ŋhl-, kt-, pthr-...

Some notes on allophony:

• When between sonorants, obsturents can be pronounced as voiced, i.e: p,t,k,f,š as b,d,g,v,ž.
  
• Sometimes ph, th, kh are pronounced like φ, θ, x

Vowels

There are four. Romanized spelling and phonetic values are given below.

i [i]	u [u]
a [æ]	o [ɔ]

Diphthongs and triphthongs occur but are subject to the restriction that linearly adjacent vowels must be adjacent on the vowel square: thus iu, oa, iao and so forth occur, but not *io or *ua.